Wait... Illegal in Georgia!?

Why do I feel like I should know this, but don't?

Corn snakes are illegal in Georgia? Why? Is there a permit you can get to keep them?

I could have sworn I knew breeders from Georgia who had corns. x.x

How did you find this out?:O

There is a permit you can get to keep one or two (educational, I think) but you can't breed them here legally. It's because they're a native species and Georgia has a wonky law.

One of my internet friends was saying he wanted a corn snake, and I told him I had some for sale, but he said they were illegal in Georgia.

So I did a bit of looking around. Apparently, NATIVE species of nonvenomous snakes are illegal in Georgia and NONNATIVE species of venomous snakes are illegal. It's really confusing.

http://www.snakesareus.com/non_venomous_snakes

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Originally Posted by coldblooded

There is a permit you can get to keep one or two (educational, I think) but you can't breed them here legally. It's because they're a native species and Georgia has a wonky law.

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Wonky is an understatement. It's legal to own native venomous snakes, but not native nonvenomous snakes. What a bizarre law.

I'm just surprised I hadn't heard of this before.

That doesn't keep a lot of people from owning them though. I would suggest just getting a king snake though.

There's a reason the PetCo 5 miles across the TN line off HWY 75 is doing so well ;)

And from the talk from some of the people I know in Georgia who own them, just don't get a normal and you can always pass it off as a king if you need to. They do show up on Craigslist from time to time.

This law keep local people from going out and catching them in the wild for the pet trade. Make them illeglal to own and no will want to catch sale or breed them from wild stock.. it keeps the local population where it belongs in the wild.

Some people think that it is weird that I have seen about four corn snakes in my life time :p Other than wild ones, of course. I had meant to look at them at the Dixie show but forgot to get a close up :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

This law keep local people from going out and catching them in the wild for the pet trade. Make them illeglal to own and no will want to catch sale or breed them from wild stock.. it keeps the local population where it belongs in the wild.

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Very valid point, but I don't think that's the true intentions. There are plenty of wild Georgia species you can just take from the wild. What's the difference about snakes, frogs, turtles and other amphibians? They are not "pests", even though they out number many mammal species.

I can keep and/or KILL every single venomous snake I find in Georgia. Seems a little backwards, eh? 40 species of snakes in Georgia and 6 or so of those are deadly. BUT I CAN KEEP THEM IN MY HOUSE. Damn this state is messed up.

BTW, from what I hear it's not easy to get a permit. I am probably on their list by now (DNR). Asked them about breeding three mating pairs of sugar gliders since they "lifted the ban". I need to get a permit and have my "breeding facility" inspected by the USDA. And about hedgehogs.....I still don't really understand that one.

Oh yeah, silliest of all (non animal related)....if I want to drink on Sundays and I am out of beer I have to DRIVE somewhere to drink and DRIVE home.

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Originally Posted by jfreels

That doesn't keep a lot of people from owning them though. I would suggest just getting a king snake though.

There's a reason the PetCo 5 miles across the TN line off HWY 75 is doing so well ;)

And from the talk from some of the people I know in Georgia who own them, just don't get a normal and you can always pass it off as a king if you need to. They do show up on Craigslist from time to time.

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A little reminder here

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8. No posts promoting illegal behavior will be tolerated, including but not limited to warez/pirating of copyrighted material, illegal drug or alcohol usage, and illegal ownership or trafficking of species.

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Owning a corn snake in GA is punishable by a $1000 fine.

Do I like this law? No I do not I always wanted a cornsnake and obviously this is not gonna happen unless the law changes, but it's ok with me because there are many other species I can own so not the end of the world.

What people need to think about, other than "well if I own one no one will know so it's ok", is that by owning an illegal species regardless of the state you live in is that YOU are putting this entire hobby in jeopardy.

People breaking laws are not what this hobby needs it only tarnish the image of the rest of us who are responsible owners.

There is a thing such as responsible ownership and one of the thing it implies is being knowledgeable about your state / local laws and of course abiding by them.

As for GA here are the species that cannot be own as a pet.

http://www.georgiawildlife.com/node/1201

FYI I lived on fort stewart for a while and I couldn't believe some of their laws if you need more info on their wacky laws just ask

dint make since, i was at the georgia repticon the one before last and somone had corns

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Originally Posted by BOWSER11788

dint make since, i was at the georgia repticon the one before last and somone had corns

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I was at that show and saw no corns... they cannot get in the door with them, it is against the law. You may have saw some non native rat snakes, kings, or milks though.

mabye rats, then, though that law is very dum IMO

The law is in place to prevent over-collection of animals from the wild I assume.

The exception for hots is, I assume, mainly due to rattlesnake roundups, and possibly for venomous-christian-nutters.

It wouldn't be too hard for any of you GA residents to put together a petition to change the regs. There would be plenty of support and plenty of evidence to show that 99.99% of the corn snake market is captive bred animals, leaving the majority of the wild corns in GA alone.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

The law is in place to prevent over-collection of animals from the wild I assume.

The exception for hots is, I assume, mainly due to rattlesnake roundups, and possibly for venomous-christian-nutters.

It wouldn't be too hard for any of you GA residents to put together a petition to change the regs. There would be plenty of support and plenty of evidence to show that 99.99% of the corn snake market is captive bred animals, leaving the majority of the wild corns in GA alone.

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I agree, many states actually appreciate when residents bring up concern about outdated laws, it shows that they are paying attention to the laws and helping to make them more current.
The only reason so many 'silly' old laws are not changed is because no one brought them up as an issue.

to be honest, only in pics, have a seen a normal corn, all of them had been morphs or high contrast colors, i doubt you can find these in the wild

lol, change laws in GA....that's funny!

In NJ they had a similar law. But the major difference in it was that you cannot own a true corn. You could own any morph you wanted, but the true corns were off limits. But then again I think turtles are off limits in NJ still also. Every state has their weird laws I guess.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

This law keep local people from going out and catching them in the wild for the pet trade. Make them illeglal to own and no will want to catch sale or breed them from wild stock.. it keeps the local population where it belongs in the wild.

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We have that same problem down here in Fl. I see few places that sells wild rat snakes, and a friend's friend of mine ended up with a wild one as well.

Welcome to GA. The state of retarded politicians. I saw a video of a GA official saying that an island could tip over if to many people move to one side of it. :weirdface :rofl:

I don't mind the corn laws as much as I hate the garter, southern hognose and gila/beaded lizard laws.

I believe they should make it a little more realistic for us to get a permit to keep and breed gilas and beaded lizards.

talk about weird laws, this has nothing to do with corns sorry, but i think its weird that its illegal to breed ferrets here in sc but its technically legal to own them, although its very badly frowned on. if its illegal to breed something then why would it be legal to own it & then frown on it? doesnt make sense. you can do this but not that...stupid.

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Originally Posted by jfreels

I can keep and/or KILL every single venomous snake I find in Georgia. Seems a little backwards, eh? 40 species of snakes in Georgia and 6 or so of those are deadly. BUT I CAN KEEP THEM IN MY HOUSE. Damn this state is messed up.

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It is illegal to kill a snake in Georgia!!!
Trey

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Originally Posted by mxrider42

It is illegal to kill a snake in Georgia!!!
Trey

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That would be nice if that were true. You are misinformed though.

You can not kill any non-venomous snake. Venomous snakes you may do with as you please.

Please provide evidence if you wish to argue this matter any further.